NDLEA intercepts Europe bound-drugs hidden in jeans, dolls
By Ayodele Popoola
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have recovered illicit substances, including various quantities of methamphetamine and opioids concealed in hems of new jeans trousers, dolls, buttons, local soap, and tins of Milo beverage.
The substances, it was gathered, were to be exported to Europe, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Asia by the drug syndicates.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, made this known in a statement on Sunday.
He said some of the consignments intercepted by NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) at courier houses in Lagos, include 225mg tramadol concealed in jeans trousers heading to Cyprus.
Also intercepted were shipment of cannabis sativa hidden in heads of dolls going to Dubai, UAE; sachets of tramadol 225mg buried in tins of Milo beverage going to UAE, and another set of the same drug hidden in local soap also going to UAE, as well as a consignment of methamphetamine concealed in buttons heading to Hong Kong.
A shipment of another illicit substance coming from Florida, USA, was equally intercepted at a courier firm while the recipient, Daniel Ogi was tracked by NDLEA officers and arrested at 5 Akeem Shittu Street, Ajao Estate in Lagos on Friday, November 24, 2023.
He added that the anti-narcotics officers in Lagos on Friday, December 1, arrested a 56-year-old drug kingpin, Okechukwu Ogala, who specialises in exploiting and recruiting young citizens to export meth to Asian countries.
According to Babafemi, the suspect was arrested at Blue Moon Hotel in the Okota area of Lagos with 60 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.009 kilograms.
Commending the officers of the anti-drug agency, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), equally applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy lectures by creating parity between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.